Half to samuel mawhinney



(No Model.)

A. D. TYLER, JI.

IMPREGNATING WOOD.

UNITED STATES PATENT (DEETCE.

ABEL D. TYLER, JR., OF VORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- IIALF TO SAMUEDMAWHINNEY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPREGNATING WOOD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 553,547, dated January 28, 1896.

Application filed J'uly '7, 1893. Serial No. 479,861. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, ABEL D. TYLER, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at lVorcester, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Processes of Impregnating Vood, of which the following is a specication, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which represent the apparatus employed for carrying my improved process into effect.

My present invention relates to a process of impregnating wood for various purposes with a foreign material by which the wood may be rendered Waterproof or antiseptic, or both, with an accompanying increase in its Weight.

My invention has reference to the method of producing such change in the texture of the Wood as will secure these desired results by the impregnation of a foreign substance which is normally in a solid or semisolid state and which can be liquefied bythe application of a moderate degree of heat, and it relates particularly to the process by which this result is accomplished independently of the foreign substance employed or of the specific result desired. If the wood is to be rendered waterproof, awaterprooiing material is selected, if antiseptic an antiseptic material, it being only required that the foreign substance with which the Wood is to be impregnated be such as will be capable of liquefaction bythe application of a moderate heat and which will readily assume a solid or semisolid condition when the heat is withdrawn.

In the accompanying drawings I have represented an apparatus by which myimproved process can be carried into effect, in which- Figure 1 represents a closed receptacle shown in central sectional view in order to disclose the interior chamber containing an impregnating material which has been reduced to a liquid form by the application of heat and representing a number of wood lasts inserted therein. Fig. 2 represents the closed receptacle in central sectional View, but as having been rotated one-half a revolution in order to carry the lasts above the impregnating liquid during the period of cooling.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in the different figures.

A represents a closed receptacle, preferably made of heavy sheet metal, and mounted upon each end are gudgeons A, supported upon posts A2,so the receptacle can be rotated. The 5 5 receptacle A is about half-filled with a Waterproofing material-such, for example, as parafne-fwhich has previously been heate'c'i's'f ficiently to reduce it to a liquid form.

C denotes the articles to be impregnated, 6o in the present instance wood lasts employed in the manufacture of boots and shoes, the lasts being inclosed within a chamber D at the bottom of the receptacle. Pressure is applied through the pipe E, communicating either with an air-pump or With a reservoir of compressed air and with the interior of the receptacle A through one of the gudgeons A', which is made hollow for the purpose. W'hen the lasts C have remained immersed and un- 7o der pressure sufficiently long to become thoroughly saturated with the impregnating liquid, the receptacle A is rotated one-half a revolution,carrying the chamberD, containing the lasts, uppermost, as shown in Fig. 2, and free 7 5 from the impregnating liquid, which liows to the lower half of the receptacle.

The chamber D is formed by dividing the interior of the receptacle by means of a perforated partition D', upon which the lasts 8o rest when the receptacle is rotated into the position shown in Fig. 2.

The pressure is allowed to remain until the lasts have become cooled, when they are removed and the paraffine is again liquefied by S 5 the application of a steam-jet or other means.

The receptacle A is provided With openings F to allow access to the interior of the recep` tacle, and the openings are hermetically closed by the covers F in the usual manner. 9o

The process forming the subject of my present invention is applicable to a great variety of purposes, and is especially adapted for the purpose of rendering such articles of wood waterproof as do not permit of'a variation in 95 their size--such, for example, as the wood lasts employed in the manufacture of boots and shoes, which are made of the exact size required and would be rendered Worthless by a slight variation in size. In some of the proroo cesses of boot and shoe manufacture a wet insole is applied to the last, which absorbs a Waterproofin g material, like parafine, which Y is rendered liquid bythe application of a moderate amount of heat. I then apply a pressure to the liquefied parafiine with the lasts immersed therein of, preferably, from fifty to one hundred and fifty pounds to the square inch, which causes the liquefied paraffine to be forced through the interstices of the last. After the last has been thoroughly impregnated with the melted parafiine it is allowed to cool before the pressure is removed,

so as to cause the parafiineheld Within theintersticesof the last to become set or partially solidied. Ai preferablel method is to partially fill the closed vessel with the melted paraftine, leaving an airspace in its upper portion, intoWhich the immersed last can be raised free from the melted parafline du-ring the period of. cooling, which allows the cooling process tobe continued under pressure until the paraffine contained in` the last has become so cooledv and solidified as to be securely locked Within the interstices of the last. The last may be supported upon a screen or cage,` by which it can be lifted out of the melted paraffine, or it may be held at the bottom of the closed vesselv during the period of impregnation and the closed vessel rotated to carry the last uppermost and clear it from the liquid paraiiineg, but Whether the last is left immersed in the paraftine or raised' therefrom the pressure must be continued until the material becomes sufficiently set so` as to be locked Within. the interstices of the wood. Before the last is immersed in the parafine I cover its surface with a solution of gum, such as shellac, which is allowed tothoroughly dry, and When the last is immersed in the liquid paraftine and subjected to pressure asabove described the paraftine will be driven through the coating of shellac into the interstices of the last, thoroughly impregnating it With paraffme, so thatwhen the last is cooled and the pressure removed the paraffine which hasbecome solidified Within the body of the last will be securely locked Within the interstices of the last and beneath the coating of shellae,

which will remain upon the outer surface,

being necessary that the material selected shall be capable of liquefaction with a moderate amount of heat, which Will not injuriously affect the character or size of the article to be Operated upon and which is of a homogeneous nature, allowing it to be readily forced Within the pores of the Wood by the application of pressure and one which Will also reassume its solid or semisolid condition under pressure when the heat is removed. I have found by experiment that paraiiine-Wax is Well adapted for the purposes of Waterproofing articles, such as Wood lasts, but various other i substances can be employed with good results.

Then the last has been treated by the process above described, it Will have increased in Weight equal to the Weight of the foreign substance forced therein, andn as the amount of the substancewhich can be forced into-a given area of Wood depends chieiy upon its bulk a. greater or less increasey in the Weight of the Wood can be secured by theselection of heavier or lighter substances to'be` forced into it.

By my improved process the wood can be rendered Waterproof by the introductionl of a Waterproof material, antiseptic by the introduction of a preservative material, or the color of the Wood may be changed, such as the change in color from a White-grained Wood to that of ebony, by the introduction of suitable coloring material.

Whatever the specific result maybe which it is desired to accomplish, theesscntial steps in the'process remain the same, the charac'- teristicfeature being tocauseftheforeign material to become securely locked with the pores of the Wood, owing to its solidification by the process of cooling While underpressu-re, soit will not` exude from the surface of the Wood.

I am Well aware that liquid substances have been forced into Wood under pressure an d also that Waterproofing material'lias been applied to Wood when hot-such, for example, as the' application of Ahot oil or by the boiling of the Wood in oil, and I do not claimeither'of these processes; but

XVhat I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The Within described process of impregnating Wood, with a foreign solid, or semisolid substance, capable of liquefaction by heat and consisting in liquefying the foreign substance by the application of heat 5 immers ing the Wood in the liquid under pressure until the desired degree of impregnation of the Wood is obtained, then'elevating the Wood from its bathV and allowing the Wood so impregnated to coolWhile under pressure, Whereby the substance forced into the'intersticcs of the Wood becomes set by its solidilication, substantially as described.

2. The Within described process of impregnating Wood with a solid, orsemrsolid substance, capable of liquefaction by heat, and

IIS

Consisting iu rendering the substance liquid the impregnatiug substance becomes set by by the application of heat, covering the Wood solidiflcation, substantially as described.

to be treated With a solution of gum, such as Dated this 1st day of July, 1893.

shellae, immersing the Wood in the liquid, ap-

plying pressure to force the substance into ABEL D. TYLER, JR. the iuterstiees of the Wood, and beneath the Witnesses: covering of gum, and allowing the Wood to RUFUS B. FOWLER,

eoolWhile still subjected to pressure whereby HENRY W. FOWLER. 

